Out Loud

Some bugs are easy to identify such as the Saddleback Caterpillar and Cow Killer Wasp, others are more difficult to identify such as this fuzzy white caterpillar. All four photos are of the same caterpillar from different angles and against different backgrounds.

There are quite a few different fuzzy white caterpillars and if you do a Google search you’ll discover that not only are there several very similar caterpillars, but that different websites will give you different identifications for the exact same species.

How does this happen? Not all websites are scientific. Some are hosted by entomologists (bug specialists), others are hosted by photographers, while others are blogs by folks who found an interesting bug that they want to talk about (like me).

Where it gets tricky is in how someone like me identifies a bug to blog about. In my research I found dozens of non-scientific websites posting a scientific name for this hairy white caterpillar. Most of them probably did a Google image search and took the info from the first photo they found that appeared to match even if that website was just another personal blog or photo sharing site.

I’m a bit more particular about where I get my identifications from. First, I try to find the bug on websites that are dedicated to insect identification or entomology sites. Then I try to find it on educational websites and other websites that are on my research list. My goal is to find the bug identified by multiple trusted websites, not just one.

If it’s hard to identify as this particular caterpillar was, I also look for regional information. In other words if one species is only found in California and I am on the East Coast, mine is obviously not that species.

This hairy white caterpillar came up with two different identifications and I spent hours trying to make sure I used the right one. The first identification that came up was for Spilosoma virginica. Hours on the web shot it down. I just didn’t find credible sources to back it up. The Spilosoma virginica is a fuzzy white caterpillar but it has spiky hair which is straight and it doesn’t have the black tufts.

There were so many furry white caterpillars. Some had prominent black spots, some had black heads, and most had straight hair.

My hairy white caterpillar turned out to be Apatelodes torrefacta, the larva of the Spotted Apatelodes Moth. There are several identifying features. Its hair lays down instead of sticking up. The black spots are barely noticeable. It has two black antennae or tufts on one end and a single one on the opposite end. There is no prominent face and you cannot see its feet. Finally, there are tiny black hairs along its back; you can barely see them.

It is similar to the Acronicta americana except that the Acronicta americana caterpillar has shorter, spikier hair, too many long black tufts and is missing the two black tufts at one end. Another fuzzy white caterpillar is the Lophocampa caryae, except that it has very prominent black spots. Yet another is the Megalopyge crispata which has the long droopy hair but no black tufts. The hair on this last one is actually too long to match my caterpillar. These were just a few of the possibilities that came up.

The moral of the story is that if you are trying to identify a bug, be very careful in which websites you trust for information. Anyone can post a photo and slap a name on it and personal sites may not take the time to properly research their posts.

A few other interesting facts about my caterpillar — the Apatelodes torrefacta — are that it can be bright white, off white or pale yellow. The tufts of the yellow variety are a brownish orange color. The view from underneath is really stunning except that I cannot verify this with my caterpillar as I did not flip him over to see. One photo that someone else took shows a yellowish body, with big black spots and neon orange feet. I would have loved to see it!

Another point of interest for the Apatelodes torrefacta is that it can have up to five broods in a year at 30-day intervals spanning an entire summer. Note that some sites specified only two broods. Five broods came from a posted PDF file that took its info from a book on North American Moths and another book specifically about this species of caterpillar. That sounded pretty official to me.

The Apatelodes torrefacta caterpillar is found from Ontario, Canada down to Florida and west to Texas and in parts of the Midwest. It prefers maple trees, oak trees, ash trees, and fruit trees such as plums, cherries, apricots, peaches and almonds.

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Only in Georgia do you find every manner of bizarre and nasty bug imaginable and our one acre seemed to house the worst of them. We’d found two inch long dung beetles, scorpions, black widows, Cow Killer wasps, fire ants, Arrowhead spiders, and other assorted bugs that bite, sting or are just interesting. This time it was a brightly colored caterpillar.

The caterpillar was breathtaking with his vivid lime green blanket and well defined brown saddle ringed with white. The edges of the blanket had tufts of tan colored hairs or spines tipped with black. His horns were spiny, too, and he had two horns on both the front and back.

His rear end offered the perfect camouflage with two great big lime green eyes. Only they weren’t eyes, they were green spots designed to make his rear end look like his head to confuse predators. His rear end even had a mouth, making his fake face complete.

Having discovered that the wonders of my own backyard made great blog entries, I ran for the camera. Our little Sony Cybershot took great photos and even movies with sound. The green and brown Saddleback Caterpillar did not disappoint except that I failed to get the movie I wanted.

As we watched his head, he puffed out what we thought was his throat and out popped a turd. We had witnessed a caterpillar pooping! And we realized that this was his rearend, not his head. Try as I might to get a movie of the Saddleback Caterpillar pooping, he didn’t do it for me again. I did, however, get several photos of his posterior in various stages before and after pooping. It was truly mesmerizing.

Saddleback Caterpillar getting ready to poop.

Here comes the turd.

He wasn’t hard to find on the internet. My very first try was to type in Saddleback Caterpillar and I hit paydirt. Our caterpillar, scientifically known as Sibine stimulea or Acharia stimulea, would go on to become a plain brown moth with tiny white spots someday. But today he was of the family of slug caterpillars that are found in Eastern North America from Massachusetts down into Mexico and west to Missouri and Texas from June to August in the cooler climates and almost all year in the warmer climates such as Georgia. He was feeding on a thornless blackberry bush in September.

Saddleback Caterpillars feed on a wide variety of plants and trees. People have found them on trees such as cherry, oak, elm, plum, apple, poplar, chestnut, maple, redbud, crepe myrtles, dogwood, rose of sharon, banana trees and palms. Plants include corn, blackberries, blueberries, tomatoes, green beans, hydrangeas, azaleas, elephant ears, ivy, holly, amaryllis, irises, gladiolas and peonies. In other words you can find them on just about anything. More often than not they are found on the underside of leaves where you can brush up against them and be stung before you’ve even spotted them. Other common names include Packsaddle Caterpillar and Stinging Hair Caterpillar.

In my quest to make him poop for the camera I came very close to touching him. Thank God I didn’t because the hairs are venomous and pack a nasty punch. Each hair has a poison sac at its base and the sting is reputed to be much like a wasp sting. The pain and swelling can last for days and is often accompanied by a rash, nausea, cold chills, sweating, headache, dizziness, tingling and numbness. One person described the pain as “burning like fire” and some folks experience heart palpitations.

Use cellophane tape to remove the stinging hairs. Ice packs help reduce pain and swelling and swimming in a chlorine pool helps to diffuse the venom. Any bee sting remedy such as Benadryl, Camphophenique or other treatments for bee and wasp stings may help but be prepared to suffer for days from the sting of this colorful brown and green caterpillar.

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